scholarly journals Introduction to the material study of global constitutional law

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARCO GOLDONI

Abstract:The article addresses the question of how to study global constitutional law by suggesting a material methodology. Drawing from previous studies of the notion of the material constitution, both from materialist and institutionalist types (Marx, Mortati, Poulantzas), the article proposes to look at the development of global constitutional law, in its many instantiations, in terms of its relation with the state. Accounts of the autonomy of global constitutional law are requalified in terms of relative autonomy. More specifically, global constitutional law is conceived as a legal construction functional to the transformation of the contemporary state. From the perspective of the material study of constitutional law, the state is still deemed to be the main unit of analysis, but, at the same time, state-centred accounts based on an exceptionalist understanding of sovereignty are rejected as reductive and, at times, inaccurate.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin P. Schennach

This is the first work of its kind devoted to Austrian constitutional law, which has so far received little attention in (legal) historical research. It examines its origins, its authors, its connection with the “Reichspublizistik”, its sources and methods as well as its contents and, last but not least, its role in university teaching. Of all the particular state rights in the Holy Roman Empire, its subject was probably the one most intensively discussed. In the second half of the 18th century, Austrian constitutional law was a flourishing genre of literature promoted by the Habsburg dynasty. This is accounted for by its main themes: It flanked the process of internal integration of the heterogeneous Habsburg ruling complex and aimed at the discursive and legal construction of an Austrian state as a whole and the legitimation of absolutism.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1(162) ◽  
pp. 127-145
Author(s):  
Piotr Uziębło

The problems raised in the doctrine of constitutional law related to the implementation of a decision taken in a referendum in matters of particular importance to the state, as well as the generally marginal use of the institution of popular vote in the constitutional prac-tice, give rise to reflection on the introduction of the institution of a referendum law into the Polish constitutional system. In this article the author considers the advantages and disadvantages of such a solution, analyzing at the same time contemporary normative regulations concerning such acts in other countries. The research leads to the conclusion that despite the risks involved, the refer-endum law should appear in the Polish constitutional system in the future, as it would not only give a chance for a more complete reflection of the will of the collective subject of sovereignty without the necessity of its decoding by the parliament, but it could also be an impulse for the development of the referendum practice in the Republic of Poland. However, it is important to introduce proce-dural barriers that will prevent depreciation of this institution.


1977 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 318-329
Author(s):  
Pnina Lahav

The World Zionist Federation (hereafter W.Z.F.) was founded in 1897 at the First Zionist Congress as the structural framework of the organised Zionist Movement. Its contemporary members are Zionist organisations, whose aim is the implementation of the Zionist Programme as defined by its constitution. As such, the W.Z.F. is an inter-territorial organisation, not limited by national frontiers. It is known to command impressive financial resources and considerable international influence. In Israel, the W.Z.F. was also recognised and given a special status by law. Sec. 4 of the World Zionist Organisation—Jewish Agency (Status) Law provides that:The State of Israel recognises the World Zionist Organisation as the authorised agency which will continue to operate in the State of Israel for the development and settlement of the country, the absorption of immigrants … and the coordination of activities in Israel of Jewish institutions and organisations active in those fields.The W.Z.F. operates through three governing bodies: the Zionist Congress, the Zionist General Council and the Executive.


City, State ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 17-50
Author(s):  
Ran Hirschl

This chapter examines four introductory dimensions of the political and constitutional discourse around cities. The first is the tremendous interest in cities throughout much of the human sciences as contrasted with the silence of public law in general, and of comparative constitutional law in particular. Next, the chapter takes a look at the dominant statist stance embedded in constitutional law, in particular as it addresses sovereignty and spatial governance of the polity. A brief account of what national constitutions actually say about cities, and more significantly what they do not is then given. Finally, the chapter turns to the tendency in political discourse on collective identity to understand the “local” almost exclusively at the national or regional levels, rather than distinguishing urban interests from those of the state. Taken together, the four angles of city constitutional (non)status examined here highlight the bewildering silence of contemporary constitutional discourse with respect to cities and urbanization, as well as the strong statist outlook embedded in national constitutional orders, effectively rendering the metropolis a constitutionally non-tenable entity.


Author(s):  
M. Mustafa Erdoğdu

The main premise of this chapter is that state actions are crucial for economic development and those actions are partly shaped by the culture. Because some cultures are more conducive to development, it is engaged with the question: “Would it be possible to direct cultural change to serve economic development?” Since culture is a subject-object relationship, it might be possible to direct cultural change and consequently build up a developmental state. This chapter particularly focuses on the defining characteristics of a developmental state. In addition to the three characteristics recognized in the literature (relative autonomy, capacity, and embeddedness), four others are identified which are essential for a state to become developmental and remain so. These are: legitimacy of the state, integration of the society, socio-political stability, and motivation for economic development. The Korean developmental state is taken as a case study and investigated under this new light.


For several decades, Yanhuang Chunqiu (Annals of the Yellow Emperor) enjoyed a unique status among Chinese publications as a monthly magazine that was both the publication of a state-owned unit and the journal of a private association managed by a team of independent editors. It made a strong contribution to furthering public discussion of early PRC history through special columns like “Controversies” and “Confessions.” This chapter analyzes the journal’s strategy in negotiating a space of relative autonomy with the institutions of state censorship, before it was ultimately reorganized by the state in 2016.


2008 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 547-574 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Vespaziani

European integration has forced constitutional law scholars to abandon the perspective of methodological nationalism. Prior to the emergence of the interpretative problems raised by the intersection of domestic and European law, the dominant legal paradigm conceived of “constitution” and “state” as two inseparable terms. With the intensification of European integration and economic globalization, many different constitutionalist interpretations have emerged which all share a belief in the State's loss of centrality, such as post-, supra- and transnational constitutionalism, constitutionalism without the state and multilevel constitutionalism.


Author(s):  
Luis I. Gordillo Pérez ◽  
Giuseppe Martinico

El objetivo de este artículo es ofrecer una reflexión sobre el estado del Derecho constitucional europeo en el año del quincuagésimo aniversario de Van Gend en Loos, la histórica decisión del Tribunal de Justicia (TJ) que ha puesto las bases para la constitucionalización del Derecho de la Unión Europea. Para ello, y tras profundizar en la teoría del constitucionalismo comunitario, se analiza el proceso de constitucionalización de la UE a través de la jurisprudencia del Tribunal de Luxemburgo desde dos puntos de vista: constitucionalización como «federalización» y constitucionalización como «humanización».This article reflects on the state of the art of the EU Constitutional Law on the 50th anniversary of Van Gend en Loos, the founding constitutional decision of the ECJ. After analyzing the fundamentals of EU constitutional theory, the authors move towards the constitutionalization process of the EU through the case law of the ECJ from a double perspective: constitutionalization as federalization and constitutionalization as «humanization of EU Law».


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